Leonard Smalls

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1509030875' post='3396178'] I have to say that it saddens me to read about those of you who think you "arent good enough for a band". We all started out being crap players and struggling to learn the ropes. [/quote] My first bass playing gig (I'd done 1 at school as a keyboard player the year before), was in 1983; I'd been learning "bass" (it was actually an acoustic guitar which I ignored the top 2 strings on) by attempting to play along to Bootsy records for about 2 months, when some mates decided after a bit of a heavy night, that we should get a band together. So after 1 rehearsal (all 8 hours of it, producing 3 "songs") we played our debut at Leeds University Tartan bar - I used a borrowed shortscale Gibson. And what a racket it was! But bizarrely, we then got asked to play some parties (our songs were very long - the sort of thing where the singer could nip out for a bath, put on a baked potato, have a couple of beers, eat the spud, come back and we'd still be playing the bridge of "Carnival"). And even a gig at the Warehouse, once we'd promised to write a few more songs and not play any of them for more than 10 minutes. So it shows anybody can do gigs, no matter what ability level they are (almost!)...

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1508924340' post='3395326'] WTF, some woman in white, is in fact, Hiromi. A very serious, skllful musician. [/quote] Indeed! Check out her stuff with Hiromi's SonicBloom (with Dave Fiucynski), her Trio (with Anthony Jackson), and the stuff she did with the Stanley Clarke Band and Screaming Headless Torsos. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYUU19Cnf-0[/media]

Recent rehearsal, with some colourising to disguise low-res phone image! [url="http://www.facebook.com/sixteenchokestart/videos/1556386737753199/"]http://www.facebook....56386737753199/[/url]

Only a bit posed, from a recent rehearsal... [attachment=255906:16CSbass6.jpg]

Aye, Mr. King is the only bass player who slaps consistantly. That Marcus Miller, Larry Graham, Flea, Doug Wimbish, Stuart Hamm, Victor Wooten, Louis Johnson, Abraham Laborial, Freddie Washington, Stanley Clarke, Jonas Hellborg, Bootsy, Les Claypool, Bill Dickens, TM Stevens etc always get it wrong and should stick to playing roots and fifths with a pick!

Last January a couple of local lads and I started a band - we initially looked for a singer but no-one seemed to be available apart from a death metal growler (we're not that sort of band!). So we resigned ourselves to having the guitarist sing - which has actually worked out quite well. We've written 12 songs and have our debut gig coming up in November supporting [url="https://www.facebook.com/icarusfallsukband/videos/1064856900313301/"]these guys[/url]. We recently had some interest from a good local singer which would have left our guitarist free to be Steve Vai a bit more. However, she wasn't interested at all once she discovered that there's no pay; she couldn't understand that locals don't like to pay to see bands - though they might be persuaded to pay £5, maybe £6, for 3 bands. The PA and sound man costs £250, local council insists on bouncers (it's in the community centre) - £250. Insurance is £100, and the community centre want £50 as well as all the bar take. So that's £650, with £100 for poster printing, tickets etc. The venue has a fire limit of 150, so that means max possible take of £900 at £6, or £750 at £5. So at £6 to get in, the maximum that can be shared between 3 bands (assuming sell-out!) is £150, and the Icarus boys have to come up from Down South, plus 2nd on the bill are about 1.5 hours away. Which means nowt for our band. So she's sitting at home waiting for a call which probably won't come, and we'll be getting [s]canned off stage[/s] the adulation we so richly deserve!

[quote name='ricksterphil' timestamp='1507708201' post='3387313'] Not at all in my book.... [/quote] Indeed!

Is this yet another re-hash of the "you're not a proper musician unless you get paid" thread? My mother is a pianist and LRAM, and she spent about 20 years duetting with a friend on the flute - mainly Bach. They never played a concert (even though they were a covers band ), and had absolutely no interest in doing so. It was purely for their own entertainment. Does that mean they weren't proper musicians?

Sometimes a bit of slap is just what the doctor ordered... Here it is, preceded by proper cheesey interview! [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqXbIXfmH3g[/MEDIA]

I like the look of the Mark Audio AC2, but annoyingly their website only lists one dealer - in Italy... http://www.markaudio.it/dealers/2/ A google search for the UK finds no mention anywhere!

I saw him with the Screaming Headless Torsos a number of years ago... Most excellent - also check out his stuff with the Hasidic New Wave.

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1505513021' post='3372583'] cheers Leonard [/quote] Usual commission rates apply

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1505088224' post='3369427'] I do so wish Lenny would get his bass repaired, though. [/quote] Cheers Mr D! Good to see Play Of The Day returning! I'm glad you liked my haunting little melody... I say Liked, I mean Tolerated. And by Tolerated, I mean you'd probably prefer to be Edward The Second than have to listen to my offering ever again Anyway, there is bass all the way through; the 3:4 section at the beginning is harmonised through a Vielklang VST, and the D'n'B bit has low mid and bass turned right up, with a low pass set at 250Hz and plenty of New York Glue on both - Wal in each case... And drums were largely played on the fly by lil'ol me (you can tell...)

I've made a racquet... https://soundcloud.com/leonard-smalls/scream-if-you-wanna-go-faster

As has been said, the cheapest way to hear proper bass is with some quality headphones. Personally, I find phones a bit unsatisfying simply because they don't shake the floor or kick you in the kidneys - but then I live in the middle of nowhere... If you want speakers to do it you'll need to spend money; not an enormous amount if you go old - a pair of Ditton 44s will set you back around £100 and definitely do bass. New, it tends to be big speakers that do deeper bass, but you can get good results from smaller - though this costs! If you want small and really good bass you won't get much better than Devialet Phantoms - but they're getting on for £3k! As a compromise, you can get a very clean sound with relatively extended bass from a good powered studio monitor - like Presonus Eris 8 (less than £400/pair) or Adam F7 (just over £400).

Another goodie... [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyy-Sv6D8MM[/MEDIA]

I'm quite liking this one... [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iFBXjRbVl0[/MEDIA]

I once shared a dodgy cigarette with a well known Blockheads bass player...

The boy's not wrong!

I started off by playing along to Bootsy's Rubber Band on an acoustic guitar with the top 2 strings missing...

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1503059539' post='3355392'] have a dbx160a in my rig case is permanently on FOH guys love it as it stops unwanted 'surprises' [/quote] Me too... I currently use one channel pre- and the other post-effects in a sort of New York Glue sort of way (ie pre is very light, post is much heavier, and I blend them).

[attachment=250023:16cslodge26-7-17.jpg] Rehearsing with the 16 Chokestart boys. Note guitarist's music stand... (Not sure why every time I tried to post it came up with 405 error, meaning I posted it 4 times!)

Eventually bought the V4 with up to 4 separate loops, plus high pass filters on 2 channels, phase reverse on all and bass/treble on channel A (which I would use as clean for blending in). Excellent piece of kit - takes a bit of fiddling to set up, but it' much quieter than using the effects without it, and I have the choice of putting loops in series, or having them in parallel. Which means I can have the clean Wal, bass whammy with low octave chord, Darkglass tube distortion (sounds better phase reversed) and 3 leaf envelope filter all on parallel loops - this sounds like the bass has been multi-tracked with different effects on each track, then blended to give a huge sound. Costs 4-5 times more than a 2nd hand Boss LS2, but it does so much more! Love it... And http://www.joespedals.com/ were very helpful indeed.

And more excellent JamInTheVan - for those that haven't seen it - Turkuaz: [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5MXlAAsRVY[/MEDIA] With a young Frankie Boyle on trumpet and keys...

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1499792381' post='3333653'] We'll have to hope for another hour or so of similar weather, so that you can sort out the mix, and get it right. ... [/quote] Due to rain today and a few moments spare I had a brief fiddle.... https://soundcloud.com/leonard-smalls/the-big-bossa